WHEN I WAS BEFORE THE JUDGE. One Teen s Story About Family Court

Transcription

1 WHEN I WAS BEFORE THE JUDGE One Teen s Story About Family Court

2 Board of Directors President Stephen McGrath Vice President Martha W. King Treasurer Timothy W. Reeves, CPA Secretary Liberty Aldrich, Esq. Leslie A. Abbey, Esq. Jonathan D. Bram Peter L. Braus Kieran Claffey, CA, CPA Hon. Anje van Delden Karen A. Greenstein, Esq. Karen Fisher Gutheil, Esq. John Healy, Esq. Taleah Esperanza Jennings, Esq. Lawrence N. Lavine Nicole Berlin Marra, Esq. Bayo O. Ogunlesi Anthony D. Schlesinger I am 15 years old and a while back the police arrested me for fighting. I was on the street, and one of my friends started picking on this other kid. Things got going and it turned into a full blown fight. My friend threw some punches. The kid s parents were called. The parents wanted to press charges and the cops came to arrest me and my friend. After I was arrested, nothing happened like I thought it would. It wasn t like Law & Order or anything that I d seen on TV. Executive Director Melissa M. Beck, Esq. When I Was Before the Judge By Melissa M. Beck, Executive Director; Lisa K. Poris, Director of Policy, Education & Training; and Vanessa Theresa Jarvis, Senior Site Coordinator Queens Family Court Art by Christian Paniagua Design by Jessica Dietz Acknowledgements LIFT would like to thank Christine Bella, Esq. and Leslie A. Abbey, Esq., for their invaluable help in reviewing the story. LIFT would also like to thank the Florence V. Burden Foundation for their support which enabled us to create and distribute this book. Copyright 2009 by Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT) This is what happened:

3 After the arrest, the cops brought me to the precinct and asked for the name and number of both of my parents. They tried calling my parents but they couldn t reach them. I remembered that a social studies teacher once told my class that if a kid is arrested, they don t have to answer questions without a lawyer and without their parents being there. I told the police I wouldn t answer any questions. A few hours later they took me to Family Court. I had to stay in a detention room. They called my parents again, and left a message telling them to meet us in court. In the detention room I talked to a counselor from The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). I was confused and asked her why I was in Family Court and not Criminal Court. I always thought Family Court was for custody, and child support and stuff like that. I thought Criminal Court was where you went after you were arrested. She told me that because of my age and the crime I was accused of, I am considered a Juvenile Delinquent (JD). She said JDs are kids that are at least 7 and less than 16 years old who do something that would be a crime if they were adults. All JD cases are in Family Court. She said that records from JD cases are often sealed, which means that no one would be able to know about the case when I am older and looking for a job, or anything like that. She said that whether or not it will be sealed can be complicated, and I could ask a lawyer for all of the details. 2 3

4 The counselor also told me that if what I had done had been more serious, I might be in Criminal Court, as a Juvenile Offender (JO). JOs are kids that are convicted of certain kinds of serious (felony) offenses. JOs are 13, 14, or 15 years old. She told me that JO cases are in Criminal Court. She said that sometimes a JD case starts out in Criminal Court as a JO case, because the charges are so serious. Later the Criminal Court judge might decide to move the case to Family Court. She also explained to me that JOs are different While I was being held in detention, an officer than YOs. YOs are from the Department of Probation (DOP) Youthful Offenders. interviewed me. He had also interviewed my YOs are kids between friend, and the kid that he had been fighting. 14 and 19 years old The officer kept calling that kid the victim who plead guilty or are and also the complainant because he said found to be guilty in that my friend and I had started it all. Criminal Court. They get special treatment by the judge and their record is sealed and it s not supposed to affect them when they grow up and try to get a job. They sometimes even get Later, the probation officer told me that the kid and his parents were refusing to talk about an adjustment. I asked why that mattered. He told me that an adjustment is something that can be done by the Probation Department so that you don t have to go before the judge. Basically, it means that the victim decided not to press charges. In return you have to do something like report to a probation officer or go to counseling for a few months. I was mad when I heard that the 4 shorter sentences. whole thing could have ended without me having to see a judge! 5

5 Because my case wouldn t be adjusted, the probation officer told me that a petition would be filed against me in court. The petition would say what the charges were against me. He said that an attorney from Corporation Counsel would be the one that filed the petition. Turns out Corporation Counsel is kind of like the DA (District Attorney) in Criminal Court. Corporation Counsel tries to prove that you are guilty. At that point, a man came in and told me that he was going to be my law guardian. I didn t know what that meant, and he explained that law guardians are also called attorneys for the child, and they represent kids in these kinds of cases for free. I told him I thought they were called legal aids. He told me that because he was my lawyer, he would be representing me. Because he was my lawyer, he could only tell certain people, like the judge and my parents, what I wanted him to and he couldn t tell anyone what I told him, unless I gave him permission. I was so relieved to have a lawyer so that I knew there was someone looking out for me. I finally had a chance to tell someone my whole side of the story without worrying that it could be used against me. I hoped he would be able to get me out of this mess. I told him every detail of what happened, including that I refused to answer the questions that the police had asked. He told me that it was smart of me to have done that. He also talked to my parents. They were so mad at me, that they told him that they had nothing good to say about me. The officer told me that Corporation Counsel didn t want to file the petition that day, and instead they were going to file a pre-petition. He said this was so the court can figure out whether or not it has jurisdiction and whether or not what I was accused of is considered a delinquent act (courts can only make decisions over certain people for certain kinds of cases and for specific geographic areas). 6 7

6 At the pre-petition hearing, I got to see the judge on my case. She looked kind of intimidating sitting in her seat wearing a black robe. Corporation Counsel was in the courtroom, and so were other people including my lawyer and my parents. Corporation Counsel got to ask the police officer who arrested me some questions about what had happened, and then my lawyer asked a few questions, too. The judge asked my parents if they wanted to say anything, but they said no. My lawyer also told me that if my parents had said good things about me, there would have been a chance that the judge would let me go home with them. Instead, I was remanded. That meant that I was being locked up. Since they couldn t let me sleep in Family Court, I had to be taken to Bridges Juvenile Center in the Bronx while I waited for the next part of the case. Bridges is what they call a secure detention facility. It s basically like jail for kids. Bridges used to be called Spofford. The probation officer gave everyone the judge, Corporation Counsel, my lawyer a paper called an RAI or Risk Assessment Instrument. Apparently it looks at things that make it more or less likely that I will stay out of trouble and come back to court for my next court date. My lawyer told me that I had a pretty high score on it but that this The person that brought me to Bridges told me that because there had been a pre-petition, I would probably stay at Bridges for four days. After that, if the petition wasn t filed, I could go home and wait 8 wasn t the kind of test that you wanted to have a high score on. for them to file it. On the fourth day, I was brought back to court. 9

7 When I went back to court, first they brought me to detention again. My lawyer came by for a little bit, and we talked about what was going to happen. He also explained to me who everyone was in the courtroom. He told me that Corporation Counsel would be there again, and that there would be at least one court officer in the room, as well as a probation officer. He also said that there might be someone in there using something like a typewriter to take down everything that is said in the courtroom that person is called a stenographer. He made sure to tell me that not all courtrooms have stenographers, and that some of them have recording machines. He also told me that my parents would be in the courtroom. When I was before the judge, she asked the court officer to swear me in. That meant I had to say my name and age and say that I would only tell the truth. The judge told me that I am called the respondent - because I have to respond to the petition. In Criminal Court the respondent is called the defendant. Corporation Counsel then gave my lawyer the petition which had all of the allegations, everything I was being accused of. My lawyer told the judge that she didn t have to read them out loud, and he read them to me instead quietly. This was called waiving the reading. When we had talked, my lawyer and I had agreed that I would not make an admission. An admission means saying that I had done what was in the petition. Because I didn t make an admission, the judge scheduled a factfinding hearing. My lawyer explained that a fact-finding hearing is After my lawyer left, I watched television for a little while which helped distract me from what was going to happen. After a few hours, they finally brought me up to the courtroom and I saw the judge. I was so nervous when they were bringing me into the courtroom that I thought like a trial. That s where the evidence is given to the judge, and she decides if you re guilty. They scheduled the fact finding hearing for two weeks later. I learned that since I had been at Bridges they have to be scheduled within 14 days. If I had been sent home, it would 10 I might throw-up. Luckily I held it together. have had to be scheduled within 60 days. 11

8 I was worried that they would send me back to Bridges for that whole time. They talked about it during what they called a probable cause hearing, but luckily the judge said I could go home with my parents. The judge said I was being paroled to them, but that I had to go to an ATD program, or Alternative to Detention, every day. I didn t care what they called it or what I had to do I was so happy to be going home! During the next two weeks my parents and I talked to my lawyer a few times so that we could prepare for the trial. By then, my mom was less upset and helped me by giving my lawyer a bunch of my school records to show the judge that I m a good student and that I had never really gotten into trouble before. I went to the ATD program every day after school. I had to go to groups and workshops there, but sometimes I got to play basketball or even ping-pong there. My lawyer told me it was really important to make a good impression on the judge. He told me that I should wear my nicest clothing to the next court date, and that I should always speak politely to the judge. He told me that if I got frustrated or angry and started yelling, the judge would be less likely to help me. Finally, it was the day of the trial. I followed my lawyer s advice and wore nice pants and a button down shirt. Corporation Counsel had the victim testify, and I really didn t like what the victim was saying about me. I started to get angry and say something, but I remembered my lawyer s advice about staying quiet so I wrote down my comments and showed them to my lawyer instead. My lawyer got to ask the victim questions called the cross-examination and then I felt better because his questions were about what I had written down. I also had two witnesses of my own who said that I didn t start the fight. They said I was only nearby when the fight broke out, but that I wasn t part of it. Corporation Counsel got to cross-examine my witnesses, too

9 After everyone testified, the judge said that she was making a finding against me. Then the judge ordered the Department of Probation to do an I & R (Investigation and Report). The judge then set another date for another hearing. This one was called a dispositional hearing. That all meant that she thought that I was guilty of something. I was really mad because I hadn t done anything wrong and I had listened to everything my lawyer had told me. My lawyer explained that at the dispositional hearing, there would be another chance to have the case be over without anything really bad happening. He said that my history and the fact that I had made a good impression during the fact-finding would work in my favor at the next hearing. At the dispositional hearing the DOP gave their I & R and told the judge all about my grades in school everything that my mom had told my lawyer. With all the information in front of her, the judge finally made her ruling. She ordered an ACD, or Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal, meaning if I stay out of trouble for six months, the whole thing will be dropped. My lawyer explained that a dispositional hearing is kind of like the sentencing hearing in Criminal Court. At that hearing, the judge decides what will happen to me next. After I heard that, I was even more nervous about the dispositional hearing than I had been for the fact-finding hearing! My lawyer told me that the ACD was good, because it means I can keep living my life. The only thing that would have been better is if the judge had outright said I was innocent and dropped the case after the fact-finding hearing. He said the judge could have said I was guilty and sentenced me to an OCFS (New York State Office of Children and Family Services) secure detention facility located upstate for a period of time. He also told me that the judge could have ordered me to probation, or issued an order of protection saying that I had to stay away from that kid. He told me that if any of those things had happened, we could have tried to appeal the decision. Appealing a decision means asking a higher court to look at the decision your judge made, to see if the judge made any mistakes

10 Anyway, the six months are finally up, and it is all over! My lawyer told me my record is sealed, so I don t need to worry about it affecting me getting a job when I am older. Going before the judge is seriously scary, but I learned some good lessons and that it is really important to work with your lawyer, act right in court, and try to understand everything that is going on. For more help, please contact one of LIFT s programs: Family Law Information Hotline Monday-Friday 9AM - 5PM Family Legal Center Free Legal Information Counseling LIFT provides free legal information. LIFT does not offer legal advice or representation. Legal Rights Workshops Child Support/ Paternity Custody/Visitation Relatives Rights workshop@liftonline.org Courthouse Programs Bronx Family Court 900 Sheridan Ave., 7th Floor Brooklyn Family Court 320 Jay St., 6th Floor Manhattan Family Court 60 Lafayette St., Lobby Queens Family Court Jamaica Ave., 1st Floor 16

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